Markie Palermo, 17, conducts DNA tests on trout in a lab in State University of New York at Plattsburgh / Courtesy of Nancy Elwess

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How now, brown trout? Last summer, the question led Markie Palermo, 17, of South Hero to exhaustive DNA analyses. Monday, her working hypothesis takes her to the White House to accept a presidential honor.

Experts say thereís an excellent chance sheís right on the nose ó and her top-notch research led to her winning one of the 10 national youth awards for excellence in the environmental sciences.

Palermoís work arose from a concern among anglers in the region that brookies were on the wane. Her genetic sleuthing determined that brown trout, in mating with brook trout, yield a sterile hybrid called tiger trout.

The Essex High School studentís work has garnered other attention, said her mentor, Nancy Elwess, a professor of genetics at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.

Most notably, Palermo is one of six national finalists, among more than 1,000 entries, for the Young Naturalist Award sponsored by the Museum of Natural History in New York City, Elwess said.

Palermo also is a nominee for a Green Mountain Environmental Leadership Award, which the Burlington Free Press presents along with the Echo Lake Aquarium and Science Center.

ďSheís very modest,Ē Elwess said. ďThatís why I donít mind being her spokesperson. She picked up the protocols and everything so readily I donít think she realized the level at which she was working.

ďFor example, sheís had a paper thatís been accepted for publication,Ē Elwess added. ďSheís presented at a national conference where she was the only high-school kid. Things like that. Sheís got a natural curiosity about things. So as a result, she asks a lot of well-formulated questions.Ē

Palermo worked with Elwess at the latterís laboratory last summer, and plans to continue her trout-DNA work there at the end of her junior year.

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ďIíd like to keep her around for awhile, but sheís going to be off to bigger and better things,Ē Elwess said.

One recent afternoon, Palermo took a break in packing for the trip to Washington for a short interview. Excerpts:

Burlington Free Press: Are you going to be discussing your project with anyone down there, or is this more or less a formality? Whatís on the program?

Markie Palermo: Iím not sure entirely. I havenít been given too many details. I know that Iím going down there along with nine other students who also won the award, and thereís going to be some kind of ceremony with various bigwigs, I think. Weíll each be given this Presidential Environmental Youth Award.

BFP: Is President Obama going to be there to meet with you?

MP: Iím not sure about that, either. I havenít been told.

BFP: When did you find out about all of this?

MP: It was in late January. I was in school, and I got a phone call from my mentor, Dr. Nancy Elwess. Luckily I was in study hall, so I got to pick it up when I saw that it was her. She gave me the news.

BFP: Does the award confirm for you in some way a talent in this field? Is this giving you a boost in that direction?

MP: Well, Iíve always been into science and biology, ever since I was little. This project piqued my interest in genetics. Receiving this presidential award is such a big thing, and Iím so excited about it. Well, Iíll definitely be majoring in science when I go to college; thereís no doubt about that.

BFP: Is it too early to decide where you might go?

MP: Iím not sure, but I received a couple of letters from Harvard and from Princeton and Yale and some other schools. So thatís super exciting.

BFP: Out of the blue?

MP: It probably is partially to do with my athletics, as well. (Palermo is the defending two-time Division One cross country champion.) But I think my grades helped, too. (Elwess terms the studentís test scores as ďthrough the roof.Ē)

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BFP: Do athletics provide a helpful balance with your geekier side?

MP: I love running a lot. Itís always fun to hang out with my friends at the end of the day and go for a run, and it helps relieve stress. Basically the two big things going on in my life are this science project and running.

It is a nice to get outside and be physically active. Also itís cool to do research and work in laboratories. I kind of get the best of both worlds.

BFP: Is there a financial scholarship involved with the presidential award?

BFP: I have to ask: Are you a pretty good angler, in terms of catching fish?

MP: Well, not really. We basically we walk around in streams with an electro-shocking machine and try to catch them in nets.

BFP: Whoíd you work with?

MP: Dr. Elwess was my mentor: She supervised the project and helped me, and taught me how to use all the equipment. (Biologist) Madeleine Lyttle took me to streams on the Vermont side. She helped me identify the fish that we caught, and helped me take samples.

Dr. Timothy Mihuc, the director of the Lake Champlain Research Institute (at SUNY Plattsburgh) took me out on the New York side.

BFP: And your work on trout DNA isnít finished?

MP: Iíd like to expand my project, and Iíll be working again in the lab this summer.

BFP: Is that because the fundamental question still out there: whether or not thereís interbreeding between trout species?

MP: The results I got from my data did support that hypothesis, but there definitely needs to be a lot more testing to have a really strong conclusion. But from all the data I got, there really couldnít be any other conclusion drawn.

All the results showed that these affected tiger trout alleles (distinctive segments of DNA) matched both the brown trout and the brook trout alleles. That was definitely the strong point in my project.

BFP: What will you do this summer?

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MP: Iíd like to go out to more sites. We really only went to two different rivers or streams (last summer). Iíd like to catch more fish and use different methods to test the DNA samples, to confirm everything.

BFP: I would imagine that thereís a potential for a lot of different genetic experiments to assess plant and animal populations. Are you pretty well settled on the study of fish?

MP: Anything, really. I love animals, so basically Iíd be interested in testing any sort of animal. I only chose the trout because Iíd heard that the native brook trout population was declining. I wanted to look into that.

But there are so many cases of other native species declining. Mostly because of humans, but there are also unknown reasons out there. Like the honey-bee issue (hive collapse disorder). That would be cool to look into. I guess basically what Iím looking for is: Anywhere I can make a difference, I would like to.